The Protector
by addicted2sport
Summary: A former OOTP member's life is at risk, and Hermione is sent to protect her.But can she stand to be in contact with her old arch nemesis for so long?R R
1. Prologue

**Hello pplz. This is my first Dramione fanfic. I hope you like it. If you do, plz review. If you don't, then review anyway. =]**

**Disclaimer:**** If I were JK Rowling I wouldn't be writing this. I'd be lounging away in Hawaii.**

**Prologue**

A thin, cloaked figure hurried silently in the dark of the poorly lit street, its shadow rippling on the cobbled pathway. The sound of footsteps stalking this shadow announced the presence of company, causing the figure to hasten some more. A sharp intake of breath was heard, as a dead end loomed abruptly ahead. The cloaked figure resignedly turned around to face the footsteps.

"Lumos".

The now lit up street revealed the presence of three Death Eaters standing alongside each other.

"Isn't it a bit late for you to be taking a stroll?" said the middle one with barely concealed contempt.

"I could ask you the same thing Bellatrix," came the calm feminine voice of the cloaked figure. "These are dark times for Death Eaters after all."

"Traitor!" yelled the Death Eater on the right. Avery, the hot-headed fool. "Avada Kedavra!"

The spell missed her head by millimetres, and she knew she wouldn't be two times lucky. Her eyes took in her surroundings, trying to find a place to run.

"Crucio!" screeched Bellatrix. The figure barely managed to suppress a scream of pain as she was thrown onto the road by the force of the spell.

"Protego!" she yelled blocking the spell fired at her by Avery. The spell rebounded and hit the other Death Eater, Mulciber, who tumbled back into a bin, earning him the wrath of the stray cats who were feeding. The woman took advantage of the distraction to get up and attempt to move away to an apparition points that would allow her to apparate to her original destination. But her luck seemed to be off on this particular night. A spell hit the wall causing an explosion, and she was buried under the tonnes of solid bricks.

"Reducto," she gasped, trying to clear a way out of the rubble. She crawled the remaining metres and apparated just as Bellatrix appeared around the corner.

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The bell rang at 8 Grimmauld Place, setting off the usual volley of screeching insults from Mrs Black. Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed wearily and rolled his eyes as he muttered a spell to silence the irate portrait and made his way towards the door. Opening the door to the headquarters of the Order of Phoenix, he frowned as he found no one in his line of sight. As he moved to look around outside, his foot collided with something soft, and he looked down sharply. The tall, imposing man lost his usual cool and gasped a curse. There at his feet was a crumpled unconscious woman, blood seeping from enough wounds to drain her body's entire blood reserves. Shacklebolt quickly turned his head back into the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix and called urgently:

"Hermione! Call Severus and come quickly".

Using his wand to levitate the crushed body, Kingsley stepped inside, gently closing the door behind him. He lowered the bleeding woman onto a settee in front of the fireplace as Severus Snape and Hermione Granger ran into the room, Snape looking worried and Hermione bewildered.

"What on earth is _SHE_ doing in the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix?" Hermione demanded with a mixture of distaste and worry.

There was no answer from the two senior members of the Order. Snape had dropped to the wounded woman's side and was muttering spells over her body, assessing her injuries and healing them as he did.

"No one must be told," Kingsley said in a hushed voice to Hermione, his worry evident in his eyes. "Contact the Order's inner circle, and tell them to report to headquarters immediately."

She nodded tersely and hurried out of the room, deciding to hold her questions for now. However, as Hermione threw the green powder into the fireplace to connect to the floo network, one thought kept flashing through her mind with pounding intensity:

Just _HOW_ in the name of Merlin did _**NARCISSA MALFOY**_ know the address of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters???!!!

**Well there you have it- the prologue of my first Dramione! Hope you liked it. More action on the way... Keep a lookout for my updates and please review!!**


	2. Mission Briefing

**Sorry for the delay ppl, but the editing process took longer than expected. I've been busy lately as well. Anyway, hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. I'm just borrowing them from JK Rowling.**

"I'm starving," moaned Ronald Weasley."When are they going to let us in?"he grumbled for the millionth time. Hermione sighed loudly, wishing that Mrs Weasley hadn't insisted that Ron and Ginny come with her.

"When they finish they'll call us in," she said patiently.

"They've been talking for 3 weeks, only stopping for meals. What in the name of Merlin's long beard are they doing in there? And why aren't we allowed in? Aren't we –"

"SHUTUP!" yelled Ginny. "You've been talking nonstop for hours. Don't you ever get tired?"

He muttered something that wasn't quite audible, but Hermione thought she heard the phrase "bloody hell". Ginny and Hermione were spared any more grumbling from Ron when the kitchen door finally opened, and Mrs Weasley ushered them into the room.

"Bloody hell, finally," Ron said, but not loud enough for his mother to hear him. They all helped Mrs Weasley prepare dinner, then they all started eating, Ron shovelling food into his mouth so fast he had finished three helpings before Hermione even started eating. She was eating particularly slowly, her head whirring with the many thought that were running through it. She couldn't get the image of Narcissa Malfoy's broken body out of her mind, and she wondered for the millionth time what she was doing in headquarters she wasn't even supposed to know existed.

She suddenly realised that everyone except herself, Ginny and Ron had left the room. She picked at her food moodily, before pushing her plate away despite not eating more than a few mouthfuls.

"I feel sorry for Harry," he said through a large mouthful, half of which ended up flying from his mouth towards Ginny. "By himself with Malfoy for more than a month. I don't envy him at all." Hermione gritted her teeth angrily, but Ginny nodded her approval. This was always a touchy topic between them. Ron and Ginny had always maintained that Draco wasn't to be trusted, while Hermione thought that his "annoying side" at Hogwarts was just a cover. Of course, she would never admit it to him.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Draco was with the Order from the beginning of the war. He is our spy. Now shut up and finish your food," Hermione replied angrily. Ron continued to mutter under his breath that Ginny looked around as thinking that Kreacher had entered the room. They were interrupted by the inner circle coming back into the room.

"Ron, Ginny get out. Hermione, you stay, we have a mission for you," said Snape. He looked very tired, and the effects of age were overcoming him, with his hair becoming greyer by the day. Ron and Ginny both threw him dark looks, but left the room. Snape motioned for Hermione to take a seat, and she obliged feeling bewildered and apprehensive. She had the feeling the mission would have something to do with Narcissa. Her suspicions were confirmed when Snape began speaking.

"I'm sure you know what this meeting is about, but I will tell you anyway. I will give you a brief history of Narcissa Malfoy, and then I will inform you of your mission. At Hogwarts, Narcissa was considered a disgrace to pure-bloods. She befriended muggle borns and half-bloods, and even worse, she was sorted into Ravenclaw."

He snapped his fingers, and Kreacher apparated into the room, handing Snape what Hermione suspected to be firewhiskey. He took a sip, then continued. "She was close friends with Sirius Black, and in fourth year she fell in love and eventually went out with a Hufflepuff muggle born. Her parents found out, and fearing a, in their eyes, disgraceful marriage, they forced her to marry rich Lucius Malfoy who came from a very prestigious family, and had just recently joined the Death Eaters."

He took a deep breath, then continued. "It was from time on that Narcissa became a spy for the order. After the war ended, she was found out, but the Death Eaters were disorganised and had no leader, although they are growing stronger again. She has been attacked three times so far, and she just escaped death the last time." He took another sip of the firewhisky and continued. "Before he left for his latest mission, Draco Malfoy requested protection from his mother. He doesn't know of course, about her secret."

Narcissa was with the order? It was totally unexpected. Hermione had always thought of her as an exact replica of her husband Lucius. A pompous, rich, pure-blooded git.

"Your mission, Hermione, is to protect Narcissa Malfoy," said Kingsley, who up to that point hadn't spoken a single word. "That means that you will have to... uh, well, er- move in to the Malfoy Manor!" he finished hastily, eying Hermione apprehensively.

"WHAT!" she yelled getting up so quickly that she shook the table violently making the bottle of firewhiskey fall onto Snape, causing him to yelp loudly.

"Move in with the Malfoys? Are you out of your minds? _Me_ live with _Draco_ _Malfoy_?"

"Hermione-" Snape began, but he was cut off by Hermione.

"No way in hell am I going to do that. Even if Merlin shaves his beard and dances around the fireplace wearing Dobby's teacosy I won't do it," she yelled.

"Actually, that was an order, not a request," said Snape angrily. "We want you there by tomorrow."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could she survive with Malfoy for more than one day? Hermione stormed out of the kitchen, furious at her bad luck. Why her? She found Ron and Ginny, and told them about her latest mission. All she got from them were unwanted looks of sympathy. Their eyes clearly proclaimed 'better you than me' and she understood the sentiment wholeheartedly.

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"Malfoy Manor," Narcissa said in a loud and clear voice, whilst throwing the green powder into the fire. Hermione closed her eyes and silently cursed the Order's love for the floo network, which meant they used it for all their travels. She was thrown across the room and out of the fireplace as they arrived at the Malfoy's large mansion. Her luggage had been sent ahead of her, and she found it in the corner of the room.

A house elf was bowing to Narcissa, who told the old elf to bring two mugs of coffee.

"Sit down Hermione," she said with a warm smile. Hermione tried to reciprocate the kindness, but couldn't, contenting herself with a slight grimace before seating herself at the nearest, and smallest, chair.

"I hope we haven't caused you any inconveniences," said Narcissa, attempting to break the edgy silence.

"Uh, no. It's a pleasure to be of assistance" she replied failing to match Narcissa's friendly approach. There was another awkward silence, with both ladies not knowing what to say to the other. A sudden and loud echoing broke the silence like a gunshot. Hermione screamed as a great weight fell onto her lap.

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" she yelled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" yelled the now hopping, furious male that had landed on her.

"What the hell are you doing here and why are you sitting in my chair?" bellowed Draco Malfoy as soon as he recovered from finding Hermione Granger in his house. Hermione was too shocked at his sudden appearance to reply.

"Draco, don't be unkind," intoned Narcissa in an Umbridge-like tone. If looks could kill, Hermione would be in her grave a long time ago.

"You requested protection from the Order. So here I am," Hermione replied.

"You?" he shouted incredulously.

"Gotta problem?" she fired back angrily.

"Draco!" Narcissa said firmly. "You're very lucky someone was able to come at all."

Draco swore under his breath, then angrily stomped up the huge staircase with an elf following him. The fact that the Malfoys all had their own personal elves seems to bother Hermione more than Draco's sudden and unheralded appearance. Hermione flinched as a door slammed with considerable force, and she suddenly felt hurt at Draco scathing assessment of her abilities.

"Don't worry about him. He's just a little... overenthusiastic," Narcissa said trying to explain her son's outburst.

"Overenthusiastic?" repeated Hermione."Mental more like."

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**I hope you enjoyed it. Took some time, but yea. REVIEW!!!**

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter! Keep them coming ******

**Vegetablarian : Oops! Thanks for pointing it out :S**

**Confused23: You know you love it... :P**


	3. Ambush

**Sorry about the veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery loooooooooong delay ppl. But here it is, chapter 2. R+R, and ENJOY!**

Chapter 2

"Hermione, this is your room," said Narcissa. She led her into a large room with a queen bed, a desk, a bookshelf full of dusty books and a large couch on one side. Hermione stood with her mouth wide open as Narcissa opened the door to a spacious bathroom, with a spa and a large make-up set on the bench next to it.

"If you need anything, press this button," she said pointing out a green button next to the bed. "Try it," she said with a smile. Hermione pressed the button, and there was an immediate and loud crack as a house elf appeared out of thin air.

"An elf?" Hermione said disapprovingly. Narcissa seemed to think that this was a great treat for Hermione, so she decided not to comment.

"Does he get paid?" Hermione asked. Narcissa laughed, thinking that Hermione was joking. Hermione decided not to press the point at the moment, but made a mental note to invite Narcissa to S.P.E.W. Hermione waved the elf away, and he dissaparated back to where he came from.

"Of course you can go out into the grounds whenever you like," continued Narcissa. "We have a wide variety of wildlife. You can go hunting with Draco if you want," she offered.

"Uh, maybe another time," replied Hermione.

"Ok then, I'll send for an elf to unpack you bags-"

"It's ok, I'll do it myself," interrupted Hermione. Narcissa shrugged as if to say "your loss", then left the room in an obvious hurry. Hermione groaned loudly and collapsed on to her bed.

"Well, at least it's quiet here," she said out loud. There was a sudden loud noise that contradicted Hermione's statement. It was a loud opera-like song being played. She jumped off her bed, opened the door and went to the large staircase and looked down. There she saw Narcissa singing along with a song that sounded like it was hundreds of years out of fashion. Hermione was bewildered, and was about to go down the stairs when she was stopped by the never forgotten drawling voice.

"She's watching a Shakespeare musical on that muggle thing," said Draco.

"Shakespeare?" replied Hermione, and she saw her distaste mirrored in his face. "What muggle thing?" she asked, surprised by the existence of a muggle object in the Malfoy Manor.

"It's called a fellitision," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, a television," Hermione replied.

"No, it's a fellitision," Draco said looking annoyed.

"Ok, Ok, whatever," she said, and she half expected him to pull out his wand or use the "M" word like the old days, but he just turned around and started to walk away.

"So, uh, how was your mission?" she asked trying to start a conversation. He turned around and looked at her condescendingly.

"I wouldn't be here if it didn't go well," came the answering drawl. He turned around to walk away, but Hermione brought him back again.

"Is Harry ok?" she asked.

"I would be at the Order explaining myself to Snape if something did happen," he said, forcing the conversation shut again. He went back to his room and shut the door, leaving Hermione standing alone at the staircase. She stomped back to her room, then slammed the door shut. She waved her wand, and her bags opened, her clothes flying out and putting themselves neatly in the wardrobe. She then threw herself on the bed, and fell asleep instantly, and she didn't awake until the next day.

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Draco sat in the TV room, twiddling his thumbs as he awaited the arrival of his four best friends. He had not seen them since the war, and their coming to the Manor was the first step to restoring their friendship. The doorbell had rung three times that day, stretching his nervousness to breaking point as he rushed to check if it was his friends. He heard laughter outside, then the doorbell rang, and he rushed to the door as an elf opened it. His friends barged in to a warm welcome from Draco, who hugged them. They charged up the stairs, making a lot of noise. Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Crabbe and Goyle raced to the top, and roared with laughter as Crabbe tripped over and fell all the way down to the bottom. They smashed open the door of his room, and sat together. Draco felt happiness for the first time in years, and something that could have passed as a smile came upon his lips.

Hermione awoke when she felt a foreign presence in her room. An elf was standing next to her bed, and he bowed so low his nose touched the floor. Hermione yawned loudly and sat herself up.

"Mistress Narcissa requests your presence," said the elf. He bowed again, then dissaparated with a loud crack. Hermione got up and washed her face, then used a straightening spell on her hair. She opened the door, then stepped out, but was rooted to the spot by the shocking scene at the staircase. Draco's friends were obviously preparing to depart, and there was a smile on his face. She stared with her mouth open at the unbelievable scene. She quickly shut her mouth as they looked around and saw her, noticing the happy faces suddenly turning into sneers. Hermione stuck her nose high into the air and began walking to the stairs failing to notice a rolled up rug on the floor. She tripped and crashed and banged all the way all the way down the stairs, coming to a stop face down at Narcissa's feet. They all hooted with laughter, and Hermione went red in the face.

"You don't like floo travel, and you don't seem to like walking. How do you travel?" she said jokingly. Hermione didn't answer, but glared at the Slytherins on the staircase. They all dissaparated, leaving Draco alone on the steps. He descended the stairs still laughing at Hermione.

"Hermione, we're going out and we want you to come with us," she said happily.

"We?" asked Draco. Narcissa silenced him with her glare.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked with a glare in Draco's direction.

"To an amusement park!" Narcissa replied with excitement.

"OK, I'll come," agreed Hermione, and she apparated to her room to get dressed. A quarter of an hour later (or 3 hours according to Draco), she was in the living room and ready to go. They all apparated together to the park on the outskirts of London.

"We used to come here alot before the war," commented Narcissa. Hermione was sure she meant herself and Draco, because she could NOT imagine Lucius Malfoy at even a magical amusement park, let alone a MUGGLE one. Amusement and Lucius were antonyms. Even then it was hard to imagine Draco on a rollercoaster, or even in one of those 'dodgem cars'. It was a sight hard to imagine. They approached the counter and bought tickets to ride on the rollercoaster (the attendant tugged the money out of Hermione's hand, and winked at Draco), and they went onto the rollercoaster. They all screamed when it began, Draco and Narcissa with screams of joy, and Hermione screaming from fear. When it finally ended, Hermione staggered off, feeling off balanced. It was much worse when a picture of her appeared on a wide screen, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed, looking like a character from a horror movie. There were roars of laughter as people saw her picture.

They spent the rest of the day going on rides, until the park was almost empty, and nightfall approached.

"I'm just going to go to toilet, is that ok?" asked Narcissa, and Hermione and Draco both nodded, and she disappeared from sight.

"Not so brave in the air, huh, mrs-Gryffindors-are-the-bravest," Draco said condescendingly.

"Shutup Malfoy," she replied bitterly.

"Loser," he replied.

"Aristocratic brat," she bit back. She could tell that he was just restraining himself from saying the 'M' word. They glared at each other furiously, and it was this that stopped them from noticing that it was really quiet. Too quiet. They also didn't notice the five hooded and cloaked Death Eaters who approached them silently, smiling at their easy prey. They stepped out into the dim light, and drew their wands. Still arguing, Draco and Hermione didn't notice, until it was too late.

"Expalliarmus," yelled one of them. Draco's wand went flying out of his hand.

"Filthy mudblood! Crucio!" yelled another Death Eater, and Hermione was thrown back ten metres, and didn't get up. But just as it looked like the duel was over, Narcissa returned.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, and one of the Death Eaters fell. She was soon duelling with the four of them, while Draco ran to retrieve his wand from the fallen body of one of the Death Eaters.

"SECTUMSEPRA!" yelled Draco, and his spell collided with the spell of another Death Eater, causing a massive explosion that threw everyone off their feet, knocking out two Death Eaters.

The remaining two Death Eaters were putting up a figh, until Hermione, dazed, got up and finally saw the Death Eaters.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, and the Death Eater fell over. The last Death Eater panicked, and quickly apparated away. Hermione fell again, the darkness swallowing her away.

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_Grimmauld Place_

"Hermione," began Snape. "Why were you sent to the Malfoy Manor?" he asked rhetorically, the fury evident in his expression.

"To protect Narcissa Malfoy," she replied shamefully.

"Then why the hell is she protecting you?" he yelled, taking her by surprise. He was yelling at her for something that wasn't her fault in front of half the Order. Snape kept ranting on about irresponsibility, then finally ordered her back to the Manor. She apparated straight into her room.

She took every reprimand to heart, and felt very guilty about what had happened. Narcissa could have died, or even Draco (God forbid). She was going to have to be friendly with Draco, even if it killed her, she thought.

With this self pep talk still fresh in her mind, she went down in to the TV room and sat on the massive couch opposite Draco, who had the remote in hand and was watching something that Hermione didn't recognise.

"What are you watching?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"Antiques Road Show," he replied frostily. Hermione's jaw dropped right to the ground.

"But- but that's, it's- I mean guess it could, but," stumbled Hermione, still in shock. She couldn't believe that some who wasn't above retirement age, or someone who acted cool like Draco would actually watch that show.

"I've done my crosswords for today Granger, just spit it out," he said angrily.

"But it's the most boring show there ever was!" she said. "And that's coming from me, who is supposed to be a bookworm with no taste!"

"Excuse me, but this so happens to be my favourite TV show! But then again, I wouldn't expect you to know anything about classy taste!" he bit back.

Hermione burst out laughing, unable to control herself.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked, his temper rising. "I was even going to invite them over! We have plenty of antiques here at the Manor," he said.

At that, Hermione seemed to choke on a new bout of laughter and promptly fell off the chair.

**I hope you enjoyed it, if you did, plz review!**


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